DNC Parodies Cornyn Ad To Hit McCain On Big Oil Donations

The Democratic National Committee has unveiled another portion of its Exxon-McCain '08 ad campaign, and it's clearly designed to go viral.

Just over one minute in length, "Exxon John" capitalizes on perhaps the most embarrassing piece of video ever produced in order to promote a politician: that's right, the "Big John" video for Texas Sen. John Cornyn. But instead of lionizing McCain, of course, the DNC's piece chides the Arizona Republican for taking $2 million in contributions from big oil and failing to support a Senate compromise proposal that would revoke tax credits from top companies in the industry.

As for last week's counter-intuitive report from the Center for Responsive Politics that accused Obama of receiving more donations from three top oil companies, the DNC has a response to that, as well. "Most reports on the Exxon numbers ignore the combined contributions to
the joint McCain/RNC fundraising apparatus," a DNC staffer emailed the Huffington Post. "Together, the McCain/RNC team raised MUCH, MUCH more than the Obama/DNC team--both from Exxon specifically and the three companies CPR highlighted. McCain and the RNC raised $56,361 from Exxon employees, compared to $42,808 on our side. McCain and the RNC raised $204,461 from Exxon/Chevron/BP employees, compared to just $94,221 for the Obama/DNC team."

Adopting the echo-laden dirge theme from Cornyn's original misfire, the parody ad lumbers through the DNC's oppo research, which is delivered by a narrator not quite as deep-voiced or (unintentionally) hilarious as the one in the original ad.

Take a look:

And just for fun, take a look at Cornyn's piece again, in which we are told how the Texas senator "makes lesser states squirm":

The DNC's parody may be a touch meta for average viewers, perhaps, but should delight political junkies -- and the producers of cable news chatfests.

Below, you can find some some DNC number-crunching, which is meant to settle once and for all the question of which party receives more money from oil companies:

Numbers in the CRP Report:

$56,361: Combined amount McCain and the RNC have raised from Exxon
employees

$42,808: Combined amount Obama and the DNC have raised from Exxon
employees